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Friday, September 9, 2011

Yemen: A Different Endgame

By Nasser Arrabyee

An elderly anti-government protester sits on the ground during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa.AP

Both
sides in Yemen want an immediate solution for the eight-month long crisis which
has had such a negative impact on political, economic and social aspects of
their life.

The
opposition want a fate for Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh like that of
Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. However, Saleh’s supporters are still calling for him
to return from Saudi Arabia and finish his presidential term which would end
only on 20 September 2013.

This
week, each side called on their own supporters to stage million-man
demonstrations to show their strength. Security measures were tightened and
additional troops were deployed in the capital Sanaa.

On
Wednesday, Saleh’s supporters organised a big funeral for the chairman of
Saleh’s advisory council, Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Ghani, 72, who died Monday of
injuries he sustained in the failed assassination attempt against Saleh early
last June. A popular and official reception for the body was organised Tuesday
at Sanaa airport for the “martyr of freedom and democracy”, the official media
said.

President
Saleh was expected to return and attend the funeral of his friend and most
obedient official during the 33 years of his rule. Earlier in the week official
sources said that Saleh had finished the recovery period required by doctors
and he could return Wednesday. This date also marks the 27th anniversary of the
establishment of Saleh’s party, the ruling People’s General Congress.

Vice
President Abdu Rabu Mansor Hadi, who is acting in Saleh’s absence, said earlier
this week the crisis is close to an end, after consultations with American and
European officials.

Before
the return of Saleh, opposition parties formed an umbrella council to use it to
pressure Saleh while negotiating about power transfer. But the council was
rejected by more than half of its chosen members especially by the separatist
groups in the south and Al-Houthi Shia rebels in the north.

This
rejection has shown big divisions among the opposition parties and independent
young people protesting in the streets. All the groups and individuals who
rejected it denied they had approved the “National Council” and were surprised
why their names were included.

On
17 August, the opposition parties chose 143 members allegedly representing all
groups and individuals of Yemen. A total of 23 politicians and activists from
the southern separatist movement denied their approval of the council. The 23
persons include two former presidents of the south, Ali Nasser Mohamed and
Haidar Abu Bakr Al-Atas, who are living abroad but inspiring and leading the
southern separatist movement. “We were surprised to see our names in the list
of the council without our knowledge and approval,” said the politicians in a
statement sent to local media. “The council reproduced the dominance of the
traditional tribal and military forces which were the essence of the tyranny of
the regime.”

Earlier,
three top officials of the opposition party Ray denied their approval of the
council. Two members of parliament, Abdel-Wasee Hayel Said and Abdullah Hussein
Khairat, also denied they had agreed to give their names to be members of the
council, as did writer Huda Al-Atas and tribal Sheikh Naji Al-Shayef and Amal
Basha, chairwoman of the Arab Sisters Forum for human rights.

A
group of the independent youth in the squares, calling themselves the national
council of the independent, revolutionary and peaceful youth, issued a
statement rejecting the council. “The council of the opposition is only a
response to the desire of Hamid Al-Ahmar, who wants to co-opt the youth, social
figures and soldiers working with him to achieve his ambitions to rule Yemen.”

Hamid
Al-Ahmar, the Islamist billionaire who has been grooming himself for the
presidency since 2006, is widely viewed in Yemen as the main rival of President
Saleh and his son Ahmed. Critics claim he has been orchestrating the anti-Saleh
protests, and he is widely viewed as the most important politician behind this
second opposition council.

So
is Tawakul Karman, who was behind the first council which was declared on 17
July but failed to achieve any approval or recognition.

Meanwhile,
government troops are battling with Al-Qaeda operatives in the southern province
of Abyan, and with armed tribesmen supporting the anti-Saleh protesters around
the capital Sanaa and in the central province of Taiz.

Dozens
of people have been killed and injured in the almost daily clashes and battles
taking place in these areas. Two suicide bombings by Al-Qaeda members killed
more than 14 tribesmen in the southern province of Abyan. The tribesmen in the
south recently sided with the government troops to get rid of Al-Qaeda.

A
total of 80 Al-Qaeda operatives were killed in the fighting in the southern
province of Abyan, said the chairman of Yemen’s intelligence on Monday. Ali
Al-Ansi, head of the National Security Agency, told Al-Methaq, mouthpiece of
the ruling party, that those killed were both Yemeni and non-Yemeni operatives
and have been identified by name.

The
fighting has been ongoing between government troops and Al-Qaeda since the
latter declared the city of Zinjubar an Islamic emirate on 29 May. Al-Ansi said
that Al-Qaeda operatives are also fighting alongside opposition tribesmen in
Arhab and Taiz with support from ex-general Ali Mohsen.

The
intelligence official said some Al-Qaeda elements are hiding among protesters
in squares and inside the opposition First Armored Division of Ali Mohsen. “The
opposition has made it difficult for us to arrest them,” said Al-Ansi.

He
said that 80 per cent of the investigations over the failed assassination
attempt against President Saleh and senior officials have been carried out.
“The results will be announced very soon in public trials of those involved,”
said Al-Ansi.

About Me

I graduated from the French University in Beirut (St Joseph) specialising in Political and Economic Sciences. I started my working life in 1973 as a reporter and journalist for the pan-Arab magazine “Al-Hawadess” in Lebanon later becoming its Washington, D.C. correspondent. I subsequently moved to London in 1979 joining “Al-Majallah” magazine as its Deputy Managing Editor. In 1984 joined “Assayad” magazine in London initially as its Managing Editor and later as Editor-in-Chief. Following this, in 1990 I joined “Al-Wasat” magazine (part of the Dar-Al-Hayat Group) in London as a Managing Editor. In 2011 I became the Editor-In-Chief of Miraat el-Khaleej (Gulf Mirror). In July 2012 I became the Chairman of The Board of Asswak Al-Arab Publishing Ltd in UK and the Editor In Chief of its first Publication "Asswak Al-Arab" Magazine (Arab Markets Magazine) (www.asswak-alarab.com).

I have already authored five books. The first “The Tears of the Horizon” is a love story. The second “The Winter of Discontent in The Gulf” (1991) focuses on the first Gulf war sparked by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. His third book is entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications and the Road to a Lasting Peace” (March 2008). The fourth book is titled “How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East” (October 2008) And the fifth and the most recent is titled "JIHAD'S NEW HEARTLANDS: Why The West Has Failed To Contain Islamic Fundamentalism" (May 2011).

Furthermore, I wrote the memoirs of national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Mr Robert McFarlane, serializing them in “Al-Wasat” magazine over 14 episodes in 1992.

Over the years, I have interviewed and met several world leaders such as American President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thacher, Late King Hassan II of Morocco, Late King Hussein of Jordan,Tunisian President Zein El-Abedine Bin Ali, Lybian Leader Moammar Al-Quadhafi,President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon,late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Late Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Haitian President Jean Claude Duvalier, Late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,Algerian President Shazli Bin Jdid, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Siyagha and more...